Author: Andres-Papazian

PRESIDENT STRESSES REGIONAL STATES’ ABILITY TO SAFEGUARD SECURITY IN REGION

Fars News Agency
Oct 26 2010
Iran

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday
underlined the necessity of cooperation among the regional states,
and reiterated that the regional countries are fully capable of
maintaining and safeguarding security in the region.

“Nations of the region can meet all their needs and well establish
security in the region by expanding their relations and helping each
other,” Ahmadinejad said in a meeting with Armenian Prime Minister
Tigran Sargsian here in Tehran today.

Ahmadinejad also stressed that the regional countries need each other,
and added, “Regional countries’ can establish durable security and
peace in the region through an all-out expansion of their ties in
all the various fields.”

Iran has always urged for a regional approach towards the settlement
of problems in the region, specially in the two war-ravaged countries
of Afghanistan and Iraq.

In doing so, Tehran has always called on the regional countries to
pave the way for the withdrawal of the alien forces from the region.

Regarding Tehran-Yerevan relations, Ahmadinejad hailed solidarity
and heartfelt bonds between the two nations, reminding that such
intimate ties can serve as a proper basis for the expansion of the
two countries’ cooperation in all the different spheres.

“The Iranian nation is always prepared to transfer its experiences
and capabilities to friends, viewing their progress as its own,”
the Iranian president reiterated.

Sargsian, for his part, stressed the common views and stances of
Iran and Armenia, and said that the level of economic ties between
the two neighboring states should be a match for their political and
cultural ties.

“Armenia intends to use all the existing capacities to promote the
level of ties and cooperation with Iran,” the Armenian Prime Minister
underscored.

From: A. Papazian

KARABAKH PEACE PROCESS ENTERED PUBLIC STAGE, ARFD MEMBER SAYS

news.am
Oct 26 2010
Armenia

“I have no great expectations over Sargsyan-Aliyev-Medvedev meeting in
Astrakhan on October 27,” MP from Armenian Revolutionary Federation
Dashnaktsutyun (ARFD) Armen Rustamyan stated at a press conference
on Tuesday.

“If a problem is not solved, tangible results of the talks are out of
question. The Karabakh conflict is not resolved due to Azerbaijan’s
unconstructive stance. In this regard, no progress is expected on the
matter. At the moment, an absurd situation has been created over the
peace process. The conflicting parties welcomed the Madrid Principles.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian has recently stated
three principles, namely territorial integrity, nations’ rights to
self-determination and non-use of force, as well as six elements,
the Madrid Principles are based on, are inseparable.

“Now a simple question. How consonant are these 6 elements with the
results of referendum held in Karabakh in 1991 and 2006? This is a
very important point. Full information on the negotiation process is
available to public. When the talks reach this stage, peace enforcement
principle comes into effect,” Rustamyan underscored.

According to the MP, the Astrakhan meeting will urge the parties
to accelerate the peace process and carry out activities to sign a
peace agreement.

As to his stance on Russia’s most active role on Karabakh conflict
resolution among the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries, Rustamyan
said: “U.S. and France see the conflicting parties are inclined to
hold discussions and come to an agreement with Russia. Why should
they oppose the sides?” he noted.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN FILM FESTIVAL BEGINS FRIDAY

Bostonist

Oct 26 2010
MA

Image from Wikipedia.The 3rd Annual Armenian Film Festival of Boston is
scheduled for October 29-31 at the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston
(ICA). The Festival is sponsored by the ICA and the Armenian Dramatic
Arts Alliance.

The Festival begins with a screening of The Army of Crime by Robert
Guediguian, winner of the Palm D’Or for Best Short Film at the 2010
Cannes Film Festival. Other screenings include From Ararat to Zion
by Edgar Baghdasaryan, The Fifth Column by Vatche Boulghourjian,
Heart of Two Nations by Nouritza Matossian, Modern Love by Stephane
Kazandjian, and Mount Athos by Eddy Vicken.

According to Paul Boghosian, the Armenian Film Festival of Boston
Director:

“We are thrilled to present this eclectic roster of the most
exciting and visually dazzling new Armenian films to Boston-area film
enthusiasts. The ICA’s commitment to outstanding contemporary art in
all media makes it a perfect setting for our festival.”

For ticket information, visit or call 617-478-3103.

From: A. Papazian

BSTDB TO INCREASE ARMENIA’S LOAN PORTFOLIO

news.am
Oct 26 2010
Armenia

The Black Sea Trade & Development Bank (BSTDB) is implementing ten
projects worth a total of U.S. $70 million in Armenia, BSTDB President
Andrey Kondakov told journalists on Oct. 26. Armenia’s share in the
bank’s capital is 1%, its share in the active loan portfolio being 5%.

“Each U.S. dollar in the bank’s capital returns U.S. 14 to Armenia.

Quite a good figure for Armenia, but we plan to increase this figure,”
Kondakov said.

The BSTDB management’s position is: small shareholders must receive
more funds than major ones. According to Kondakov, this is what
development banks are intended for.

He pointed out that two years ago, when the global crisis reached its
highest point, the BSTDB member-states decided to increase the bank’s
capital. “Under the decision, the bank’s subscribed capital is to be
doubled, and authorized capital even tripled,’ Kondakov said. This
year the member-states have begun paying their shares. The process
will last for eight years, and Armenia was the first to contribute
to the bank’s capital.

According to him, the financial crisis did not affect the bank. “The
reason is the bank’s conservative policy, and, to an extent, the luck,”
Kondakov said. He stressed the bank is operating in the black, and
plans a 70% increase in its loan portfolio within the next four years.

The BSTDB was founded 11 years ago by 11 stockholder-countries,
Armenia being one of them. The bank has funded more 220 projects
worth a total of U.S. $3 billion. The BSTDB assets currently total
U.S. $1.5 billion, and the bank has 106 loan portfolios.

From: A. Papazian

INTERNET USERS DOUBLED IN ARMENIA IN 9 MONTHS

news.am
Oct 26 2010
Armenia

The number of Internet users in Armenia has increased twice from
January 1 to October 1, said Samvel Arabajyan, member of the
Armenian Public Services Regulatory Commission. According to him,
71-72 thousands have broadband Internet access, whereas the number of
dial-up users reaches 47-50 as of January 1. Thus, the total number
reached 120-125,000, whereas as of October 1 the number of Internet
users exceeds 160,000.

As to Internet traffic, it has increased by 2.2-2.3 times in Armenia
within recent 10 months.

“On October 1, Armenia’s external traffic totaled 3670 Mbit/s,
whereas on October 1 it made 7833 Mbit/s,” he said, adding that in
2008 it totaled only 1085 Mbit/s.

Arabajyan stressed that traffic growth will lead to reduction in
Internet tariffs.

From: A. Papazian

BRAIN BEHIND BREDOLAB BOTNET ARRESTED

Radio Netherlands

Oct 26 2010

A 27-year-old Armenian has been arrested in connection with
the Bredolab criminal computer network dismantled by the Dutch
investigators on Monday. He was detained at Armenia’s Yerevan Airport
at the request of the Dutch Public Prosecution Office, and is thought
to be the brain behind the network.

A special team of investigators the High Tech Crime Team dismantled
the network known as Bredolab. Bredolab is a so-called botnet, which
has infected at least 30 million computers throughout the world since
July 2009.

The High Tech Crime Team – acting in cooperation with a Dutch web
hosting company, the Dutch Forensic Institute (NFI), Dutch internet
security organisation GOVCERT.NL (the official Dutch computer emergency
response team) and IT security company Fox.It – seized 143 infected
computer servers and disconnected them from the internet, according
to the Public Prosecution Office’s own report on its website.

The Armenian had since tried to regain control of the botnet. When
this failed he launched an attack using 220,000 infected compters
on the system of the web-hosting company. This too was thwarted by
disconnecting three computer servers in Paris from the internet.

The computer servers used by Bredolab were hired in the Netherlands
from Leaseweb, the country’s biggest web-hosting company. Leaseweb
gave its full cooperation to the investigation.

Bredolab is also the name of so-called Trojan (horse), a virus which
enters computers unnoticed and allows other harmful software (malware)
to be downloaded. The cybercriminal or criminals have used Bredolab
to steal financial data and passwords. It has also been used to spy
on the computer’s activities and record keystrokes.

Owners of infected computers will receive a notice next time they
start up their computers that their hardware is infected. They will
also be given information about how to get rid of the virus. So far
some 100,000 computer owners have been informed and 55 of them have
reported that their hardware is infected.

From: A. Papazian

AZERBAIJAN PRESENTED MANVEL SARIBEKYAN’S DEATH CERTIFICATE TO ICRC

news.am
Oct 26 2010
Armenia

Azerbaijani authorities presented the death certificate of Armenian
captive Manvel Saribekyan to the International Committee of Red Cross
(ICRC), Ashot Astabatsyan, a representative of the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) told NEWS.am. The certificate will
be given to Saribekyan’s family, he said.

Astabatsyan stressed IRCR is engaged in a confidential dialogue
with Azerbaijani authorities aiming at repatriation of Armenian
war prisoners. The return of Manvel Saribekyan’s body is also being
discussed, he stated.

As NEWS.am reported previously, referring to the Azerbaijani Defense
Ministry, the Azerbaijani mass media reported Manvel Saribekyan, an
alleged member of the Armenian “diversion” group committed a suicide
on October 5. A strangulation scar was discovered on Saribekyan’s neck,
characteristic to a hanged person.

“Despite the Armenian side’s comments that Saribekyan was a lost
shepherd, who was looking for his missing cattle and crossed the
Armenia-Azerbaijani border, Azerbaijan persistently said Saribekyan
was a member of an Armenian diversion group. Then the Azerbaijani
propaganda machine spread an “interview” with M. Saribekyan through
Youtube, in which he says he had been trained for terrorist acts
on Azerbaijan’s territory. However, the expert assessment of the
video came to a conclusion that Saribekyan was filmed under physical
and psychological pressure,” the Armenian Defense Ministry said in
a statement.

Armenia applied to the U.N., European Union, CE and OSCE and demanded
participation of an Armenian expert in Saribekyan’s postmortem
examination.

From: A. Papazian

CNN INTERNATIONAL SPOTLIGHTS 95TH ANNIVERSARY OF MUSA DAGH RESISTANCE

Asbarez
Tuesday, October 26th, 2010

CNN International featured on Monday a report covering the heroic
defense of Musa Dagh during the Armenian Genocide. The segment,
produced by Yerkir Media for broadcast on CNN, marks the 95th
anniversary of the famed resistance against the Turkish army in 1915.

Reporting the story, Yerkir Media correspondent Gayane Avetisyan
meets Musa Dagh descendants in Armenia as they celebrate the famed
resistance by their ancestors.

Armenian communities around the world that trace their heritage to
this once thriving community in the historic Armenian Kingdom of
Cilicia, celebrate the anniversary every year with a unique festival
and reenactments of the resistance.

Of the hundreds of villages, towns, and cities across the Ottoman
Empire whose Armenian population was ordered removed to the Syrian
desert, Musa Dagh was one of only four sites where Armenians organized
a defense of their community against the deportation edicts issued
by the Young Turk regime beginning in April 1915.

By the time the Armenians of the six villages at the base of Musa
Dagh were instructed to evict their homes, the inhabitants had grown
suspicious of the government’s ultimate intentions and chose instead
to retreat up the mountain and to defy the evacuation order. Musa
Dagh, or the Mountain of Moses, stood on the Mediterranean Sea south
of the coastal town of Alexandretta (modern-day Iskenderun) and west
of ancient Antioch.

With a few hundred rifles and the entire store of provisions from
their villages, the Armenians on Musa Dagh put up a fierce resistance
against a number of attempts by the regular Turkish army to flush them
out. Outnumbered and outgunned, the Armenians had little expectations
of surviving the siege of the mountain when food stocks were depleted
after a month.

Their only hope was a chance rescue by an Allied vessel that might be
patrolling the Mediterranean coast. When two large banners hoisted by
the Armenians were sighted by a passing French warship, swimmers went
out to meet it. Eventually five Allied ships moved in to transport
the entire population of men, women, and children, more than four
thousand in all.

The Armenians of Musa Dagh had endured for fifty three days from
July 21 to September 12, 1915. They were disembarked at Port Said
in Egypt and remained in Allied refugee camps until the end of World
War I when they returned to their homes. As part of the district of
Alexandretta, or Hatay, Musa Dagh remained under French Mandate until
1939. The Musa Dagh Armenians abandoned their villages for a second,
and final, time when the area was annexed by Turkey.

In the face of the complete decimation of the Armenian communities
of the Ottoman Empire, Musa Dagh became a symbol of the Armenian
will to survive. Of the three other sites where Armenians defied
the deportation orders, Shabin Karahissar, Urfa, and Van, only
the Armenians of Van were rescued when the siege of their city was
lifted by an advancing Russian army. The Armenians of Urfa and Shabin
Karahissar were either massacred or deported. Musa Dagh stood as
the sole instance where the Western Allies at war with the Ottomans
averted the death of a community during the Armenian Genocide.

From: A. Papazian

ARF DASHNAKTSUTYUN: “FRANCE AND USA SEE CONFLICT SIDES INTENDED TO DISCUSS THINGS WITH RUSSIA”

Panorama
Oct 26 2010
Armenia

ARF Dashnaktsutyun member Armen Rustamyan said he doesn’t have much
expectations from October 27 Astrakhan meeting among Presidents
Sargsyan-Medvedev-Aliyev. He told the reporters no advancement should
be expected over Karabakh issue, until Azerbaijan is deconstructive
and doesn’t acknowledge that the issue should be settled through
recognition of Arstakh’s status.

The only thing to be expected from Astrakhan meeting is the toughest
recommendation to intensify the negotiations based on the principles
we have and to pass the phase of drafting peace deal.

A. Rustamyan said that after the statements delivered by the presidents
of the co-chairing states, the situation in Karabakh has significantly
changed. “”When the negotiations become transparent, it means the
principle of obligatory peace is processed, the co-chairs try to pass
the next phase of peace deal.”

Talking about Russia’s active role as a co-chairing state, A. Rustamya
said France and USA see the conflict sides are willing to discuss
the issue with Russia.

From: A. Papazian

ARFD AGAINST RECOGNITION OF KARABAKH’S INDEPENDENCE BUT DECIDED TO VOTE FOR

news.am
Oct 26 2010
Armenia

If Heritage’s bill on Karabakh is put to the vote, ARF Dashnaktsutyun
will vote for it. However, we should do our utmost not to permit it,
ARFD MP Armen Rustamyan told the journalists today.

“We consider unadvisable voting on the bill. If it happens, it is
difficult to imagine how it would harm all our work. Azerbaijan
and other forces will say: What do you want from us if your National
Assembly did not approve the bill? Passage of a draft law would strike
international recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh,” he noted.

He expressed confidence that the best moment for NKR’s recognition
was 1991.

“We should have done it back in 1991 when NKR declared its independence
and appealed to world countries for recognition. Today we are late,”
Rustamyan stressed, adding that Armenia’s recognition of Karabakh’s
independence is “the last weapon”.

From: A. Papazian